Not all models interpret prompts the same way. While the general guide covers best practices for clear and effective prompting, this article focuses on how to tailor your prompt style based on the model you're using. Whether you're aiming for speed, cinematic detail, or creative exploration, these tips will help you match your prompt to the model’s strengths, and get better results, faster.
💡 Pro Tip: Use a GPT to help you refine your prompt before using credits.
Create a 12 second Sora 2 prompt that will result in a super cinematic scene of a man flying over a field. The man is wearing a white buttoned shirt, a tie, and glasses. It should start with the man walking in the field and then he starts hovering and finally fly. The camera should track
Kling
How to write a strong prompt
Kling prompts work best when they follow this structure:
- Subject: Who or what is the focus of the video
- Subject description: Details of appearance, posture, or distinguishing traits
- Subject movement: How the subject moves or transitions in the scene
- Scene: The environment where the action takes place.
- Optional enhancements:
- Camera language: e.g., shot type or movement.
- Lighting: e.g., time of day, quality of light.
- Atmosphere: mood or tone of the video.
💡 Pro Tip: Keep sentences natural and straightforward. Avoid vague phases like “beautiful scene” or “ nice lighting”
How to write clear visual and audio prompts
Use short, simple sentences to describe what’s visible and how it moves. Kling performs best with concrete, action-based language.
Tips for writing strong prompts:
Be specific about movement
Describe exactly what the subject is doing.
Example: “Woman sprints across a field”
Instead of: “Woman runs”Include camera and lighting cues
Help set the scene with visual details.
Example: “Low-angle tracking shot, neon reflections on wet pavement”Avoid vague adjectives
Replace broad terms like “nice” or “cool” with clear descriptions of color, tone, or lens type.
Example: “Soft blue tones with a shallow depth of field”
How to combine framing and lighting
Use framing and lighting together to guide the look and feel of your video.
Framing and camera movement
Describe how the camera should show the action.
Examples:
“Wide push-in shot”
“Side tracking shot”
“Aerial reveal of city skyline”
Lighting and color palette
Use lighting cues to set the tone and texture.
Examples:
“Soft golden-hour light”
“Harsh neon glow with reflections”
“Muted colors under overcast sky”
💡Pro Tip: Kling uses these visual cues to maintain consistency and realism. The more specific your prompt, the better the output.
Simple prompt example: lose up of an empty espresso glass. Shallow depth of field. Steaming drizzle of coffee pours down and starts to fill up the espresso glass
Made with Kling 2.5 Turbo
When to use each Kling model
- Kling 1.6: Suitable for everyday content creation such as lifestyle videos, product demos, or simple animated scenes.
- Kling 2.1: Best for commercial and music videos requiring realistic motion, dynamic camera work, and refined texture detail.
- Kling 2.1 Master: Ideal for cinematic productions, trailers, or storytelling projects demanding professional-grade visuals and advanced motion control.
- Kling 2.5 Turbo: Best for advanced cinematic production, advertising, and high-end creative projects requiring precise motion control, realistic physics, and consistent visual quality.
- Kling O1: Best for precise video compositing, tighter consistency and continuity.
- Kling 2.6 Pro: Produces cinematic visuals with fluid motion and fully synced sound in English and Chinese.
VEO
How to write a strong prompt for Veo
Veo understands prompts best when they follow a natural, cinematic flow. A well-structured prompt usually includes:
Key Elements to Include:
- Shot framing and motion: Describe how the camera captures the moment. Example: "A slow zoom on the main character’s face."
- Style: Define the look or tone. Example: “Handheld documentary” or “film noir style.”
- Lighting: Set the mood with light quality or direction. Example: “Soft morning light” or “flickering candlelight.”
- Character or subject: Identify who or what appears in the scene. Example: “An elderly man with a weathered coat.”
- Location: Ground the action in a setting. Example: “An empty train station at night.”
- Action: Describe what’s happening. Example: “She walks slowly toward the gate, dragging her suitcase.”
- Dialogue and audio: Add spoken lines or ambient sound. Example: “Footsteps echo as a voice whispers, ‘It’s time.’”
💡Pro Tip: Write in full sentences rather than lists. Natural phrasing helps Veo interpret rhythm, pacing, and cinematic timing more effectively.
How to write clear visual and audio prompts
Veo performs best when visual and audio details are specific and sensory.
Use sensory details:
Instead of: “A beautiful scene”
Try: “Warm lamplight illuminating dust in the air.”Instead of: “Intense music”
Try: “Low drum beats echo under the sound of rainfall.”
Both short and long prompts can work:
Short prompts are great for abstract or stylized results.
Detailed prompts give more cinematic control.
As long as the visual and sound elements are clear, both styles produce strong results.
How to combine framing, lighting, and sound
Camera direction, light, and audio work together to create mood and realism. Each shot should focus on one clear action or subject.
Use these elements to shape your scene:
Framing: Choose angles like
“medium shot,” “wide establishing shot,” or “aerial tracking shot.”Lighting: Add mood with descriptions like
“soft morning light,” “harsh midday sun,” or “warm lamplight with deep shadows.”Dialogue and audio:
Keep lines short and natural.
Add ambient sound for realism:
“Waves crash in the distance” or “quiet room tone with faint wind.”
These layers help Veo match visuals with a fitting soundscape for cinematic coherence.
Simple prompt example: A flag waves dramatically in the cool early morning light, revealing a sleek racecar that roars past the camera on a misty racetrack, kicking up light fog and reflecting the dawn glow.
Made with VEO3.1 Fast
When to use each Veo model
- Veo 3: Well suited for cinematic storytelling, documentaries, or promotional content where visual realism and natural motion are important.
- Veo 3 Fast: Designed for rapid concepting, ad previews, or social campaigns that benefit from faster turnaround times.
- Veo 3.1: Ideal for longer or more complex productions such as branded films, narrative adverts, and high-end creative projects needing continuity and precision.
- Veo 3.1 Fast: Built for agile creative workflows, agency concept tests, or early-stage iterations that need realistic visuals generated quickly.
Sora
Note: When using Sora 2, or Sora 2 Pro on Artlist, you cannot generate videos from input images that include any of the following:
- content suitable only for adults
- copyrighted characters or copyrighted music
- real people
- input images with faces of humans
How to write a strong prompt
A Sora prompt should read like a short film. Use clear, visual language - detailed prompts give control, while shorter ones allow for creative variation.
A strong prompt includes:
- Setting: Describe where the scene takes place
- Subject: Identify who or what is in the scene
- Action: Specify what is happening, in clear, visible beats
- Style: Set the mood, visual tone, or film reference
- Lighting and color: Note the key light, palette, or atmosphere
How to write clear visual prompts
Style is one of the strongest tools for consistency. Cues like 1970s film, IMAX-scale scene, or 16mm black-and-white footage establish tone early.
Use precise, observable language. Replace abstract adjectives with concrete visual cues.
Weak: A beautiful street at night
Strong: Wet asphalt, zebra crosswalk, neon signs reflecting in puddles
Weak: Actor walks across the room
Strong: Actor takes four steps to the window, pauses, and pulls the curtain in the final second
How to guide framing, lighting, and dialogue
Camera direction, lighting, and sound together define mood and realism. Keep each shot focused on a single movement or moment.
Use short, direct framing cues:
- wide establishing shot, eye level
- medium close-up, slight angle from behind
Describe light and palette to set tone:
- soft morning window light with warm lamp fill and cool edge from hallway
- palette: amber, cream, walnut brown
Include dialogue directly in the prompt, keeping it short and natural. For example:
- Actor: “I still remember when I was young.”
Silent shots can include light sound cues such as distant rain or city hum to create rhythm and depth.
Simple prompt example: A cinematic slow-motion scene from behind an artist standing at an easel in a sunlit studio.
The camera slowly pushes in, capturing their focused posture as they paint in silence.
Light streams through dusty windows, illuminating floating dust and warm tones.
Cut to a close-up of the brush touching the canvas — slow, deliberate strokes, rich paint texture glistening under soft light.
Calm, intimate, and cinematic.
Made with Sora 2
Learn more about effective prompting in the Sora 2 Prompting Guide
When to use each Sora model
- Sora 2: Best suited for creative short-form projects such as concept visuals, social clips, and narrative experiments where flexibility and iteration are key.
- Sora 2 Pro: Ideal for professional filmmaking, advertising, or brand visuals that require greater consistency, cinematic tone, and refined detail
Seedance
How to write a strong prompt
A Seedance prompt should describe movement and camera direction clearly, following this structure:
- Subject + movement: Identify the subject in the image and describe how it moves.
- Background + movement: Describe any change in the environment or scene.
- Camera + movement: Specify how the camera should move or follow the action.
💡 Pro Tip: Keep the focus on motion. Avoid repeating static details already visible in the
reference image.
How to write clear visual and audio prompts
Use simple phrases that focus on movement and energy. Include adverbs that define speed or strength - quickly, slowly, wildly - to make motion expressive.
- Use short, clear phrases: A woman turns her head and smiles softly.
- Add distinctive traits when helpful: An elderly man with glasses waves his hand slowly.
- Refine movement with adverbs: Bird flaps its wings gently → Bird flaps its wings wildly.
Seedance does not use negative prompts. Instead of describing what should not happen, write what should occur. For example: “Make the boy in the photo wave his hands” rather than “The boy in the photo can’t stay still.”
How to guide framing and lighting
Guide motion using natural camera terms like zoom, pan, follow, or handheld.
- For multi-shot prompts, use connectors such as “Cut to” or “Camera switching to”.
- Lighting cues such as bright afternoon light or dim indoor glow can guide tone.
When writing multi-step or multi-subject actions, list each sequence in order so the model follows a logical timeline. Example: “The woman turns to the window and waves. Cut to the bird flying quickly across the sky.”
Simple prompt example: The scene opens with a faint shimmer across the metallic fabric of the glove as it catches soft stage light. Smoke curls upward in slow, hypnotic tendrils, twisting and expanding with elegant turbulence. The camera tracks slightly upward following the smoke trail, then eases back to reveal a gentle hand movement — a graceful flick of the wrist as the smoke shifts direction.
Learn more about Seedance prompting here
When to use Seedance
Best for creating short, eye-catching social media videos, product animations, or creative clips that bring still images to life with realistic motion and smooth camera work.
Explore more on AI-models
Improving prompts: Writing tips and Artlist's AI Enhancer
Choosing the right Image to Image Model for your project
AI Video models explained: choosing the right model for your project
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